


you're not what I had planned

by myheroesrbands



Series: Bakoda Modern AU [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bandit is his service dog, Bato has gone through some shit, Bato-centric, Burn injuries, M/M, and it's okay, bato is a nerd because i say so, getting together au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:27:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26308570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myheroesrbands/pseuds/myheroesrbands
Summary: After two nights together and a single date, Bato finally allowed himself to settle into the idea of him beinghappywith someone else. Someone that seemed to care so much about the people he loved. Someone that thought he was funny. Someone who was loving and full of love to give despite having experienced some of the worst things life had to offer.And for fucks sake he prayed he wouldn’t regret it.
Relationships: Bato/Hakoda (Avatar)
Series: Bakoda Modern AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1911517
Comments: 7
Kudos: 83





	you're not what I had planned

**Author's Note:**

> I really enjoyed writing this actually. The way Bato's view of Hakoda (and being in a relationship with him) kind of shifts throughout this was fun to write hehe. Uhhhh yeah! This is a bit heavy because it's entirely from Bato's perspective so keep an eye out for that. And I hope you all enjoy this!!

“Is there anything else I should keep in mind?” Bato asked, irritated from the phone call he had been on for the past half hour with a corporate executive. His job was difficult, yes, but it paid the bills and put food on the table so he couldn’t complain. His dog, a golden retriever named Bandit, ran to sit on his legs, her tail wagging excitedly behind her as she panted in his face. 

Bato smiled to himself and rubbed his hands through her fur to calm himself as the executive continued to list off things that would need to be included in their company’s new website. His notebook that was in front of him was being frantically filled with bullet points of what the website still needed and what needed to be improved. Web designing had been fun when he first started, and to some extent it still was, but dealing with corporate heads always gave him a headache. 

“Hey girl,” he said when the phone call was finished, giving Bandit his undivided attention. He’d only been home for about an hour and he still wasn’t able to give her as much attention as she needed because he’d been on call for the entire time. 

Sensing a throbbing sensation growing in the back of his head, Bato moved to his kitchen and grabbed an aspirin from the medicine cabinet. He smiled to himself as he drank his water and remembered a few nights earlier when he’d been over his neighbor’s apartment to spend the night. 

As much as he hated being locked out of his apartment, especially one that he’d only been in for a few months, he definitely enjoyed the added bonus of having an incredibly hot neighbor. 

Tearing his mind away from the thoughts of his neighbor, Bato bent down to be knee level with Bandit who reveled in the attention and happily melted into Bato’s rubs. 

Bandit had been a part of Bato’s life for the last four years as part of his recovery from both PTSD and the physical reminder of his valiant effort at saving a life. 

He doesn’t like to discuss the exact details that often but when he does, it’s usually with his [new] therapist who needs to better understand why he has such a strong connection to his dog. 

When Bato was in his last relationship, the guy was a sweetheart, truly, but there’d been a really bad fight one night. Sometimes he still had nightmares remembering it. 

_ “I can’t fucking  _ believe  _ you let that happen Bato,” Tarno had yelled, one of the kitchen towels waving with his hands as he angrily stomped around the kitchen. There had been a pan with fried fish cooking on the stove and Bato hadn’t been able to reach the stove to turn it down because Tarno was in the way.  _

_ “I need to get-” he had begun to speak but was interrupted by Tarno’s continued yelling.  _

_ “No!” and Bato felt like he was in a losing battle. Despite his height, Bato was far from an intimidating character so he rarely did anything forcefully but the flame from the stove was starting to grow. Higher. Bigger. More red.  _

_ He never really knew  _ what  _ happened but in a moment the dry towel in Tarno’s hand was on the stove and a huge flame had erupted. Bato did his best to move Tarno out of the way of the growing flames but not before he’d been badly bruised himself. Majority of his left arm was covered in burns and honestly, he was surprised that he’d been able to move the two of them out of the back door as quickly as he did. _

_ Even under high stress situations, Bato was nothing if not efficient.  _

When it came time for Tarno to admit that he’d caused the fire, and that he was wrong in the initial fight that caused the fire to start in the first place, Bato found himself alone in his hospital bed. Wanting nothing more than to hole in on himself, Bato had to accept the fact that his life was permanently changing. 

He’d really thought Tarno was the  _ one.  _ They’d been together for about five years and Bato was waiting for the other man to propose but there never came a time when either of them thought it would be appropriate. 

It was for the best, Bato came to reason with himself after he began going to physical and psychotherapy. He’d finally gotten the chance to rediscover himself and relearn the things he loved (even if he had to do that differently, he still wouldn’t have changed any of it for the world). Then, about a year after his accident, he decided that he could use a companion and what better than a 3 year old golden retriever that continued to help him through his PTSD from the accident. 

Pulling himself back into the present, Bato moved to his living room where a television had been set up but boxes littered the floor. Bandit’s steps patterned behind him on the wood floors and eventually they ended up on the couch where Bato pulled his legs up in a cross-legged position and allowed Bandit to sit in his lap. Petting the dog softly, Bato rested his head on the back of the couch and relaxed his body and mind from the stress of his day. 

In the midst of letting his mind wander, Bato found himself remembering his neighbor.  _ Hakoda,  _ he’d said his name was when Bato had shown up on his doorstep on a Friday night. 

“Hakoda,” he whispered to himself. Bandit’s ears perked up at the sound and Bato reached behind them to give a soft rub. “Just testing a name out,” he murmured. He still couldn’t believe he’d actually scored a shot with his incredibly short and absolutely  _ hot  _ neighbor. 

Soon enough he found himself thinking of Hakoda’s beautiful blue eyes and how he could stare into them for an eternity and never grow tired. He dreamily sighed to himself and Bandit turned to look up at him. He smiled before softly petting her back twice to signal he was going to move and she raised herself off of his legs and jumped to the floor. 

She barked up at him when he stood and upon seeing that he wouldn’t be sitting down again, moved to sit in her bed near the front door. 

Bato moved back to his kitchen and stole a quick look at the clock on the wall to see that it was almost dinner time. He resigned himself to not cooking a large meal and instead set out to work on baked shrimp with a side of roasted asparagus. In a little over an hour, Bato had prepared his dinner. Because he still hadn’t set up a kitchen table, he moved back to his office to sit at his desk and eat. 

After finishing his dinner, and storing the leftovers away, Bato set out to finish a project that his client was expecting to be done the next day. Luckily, he only had to go over font changes so it didn’t take long. 

However, while he was changing the font on one of the final pages, he heard a knock at his door. It was faint enough from where he was sitting that he’d almost missed it but the knock came again and soon after he heard Bandit bark in response. 

“Down girl,” he said when he reached the door and Bandit put her body back on her bed but seemed to still be sharply alert. 

Standing at Bato’s door was Hakoda. 

“Hey,” the shorter man started and Bato smirked to himself. Bandit moved around his feet methodically and Bato bent down to move her out of the way. 

“Are you going to come in?” he asked and Hakoda smiled softly to himself before shaking his head. A frown grew on Bato’s face at Hakoda’s seemingly timid demeanor. 

Hakoda breathed deeply before speaking. “I have to cancel for this weekend.” He brushed a piece of hair that had fallen out of his ponytail into his eye away from his line of vision and smiled awkwardly. His hands rested on his elbows in an attempt to stop them from moving and Bato couldn’t help how he yearned to pull him into a hug. 

“That’s fine,” he shrugged before stepping into the hall and leaving the door slightly cracked so Bandit couldn’t leave. 

“Are you rescheduling or bailing on me?” He asked and smiled reassuringly to show one of his dimples when Hakoda looked up at him startled. 

He could really get used to the height difference between the two of them. 

“The kids,” Hakoda started and Bato immediately understood.

“It’s totally fine. Do you still want to do coffee whenever we reschedule?” Bato asked, now leaning against the wall next to his door, pressing the majority of the weight onto his right side. A slight pain began in his left hand and he reached over to rub at the affected area. Wincing slightly, he lifted his eyes back to be level with Hakoda’s.

“Are you okay?” Hakoda asked, concern clear in his voice and Bato smiled bitterly before shrugging. 

There’d never be a time where he’d be  _ completely  _ okay from his injury. He was having more good days than bad lately but sometimes there were the small pains that plagued him. He hoped that he wouldn’t lie awake in pain that night. 

“Fine,” he said swiftly, not picking up on the way Hakoda rolled his eyes in response. 

“Come on. I think I have something that can help with that,” Hakoda said, gesturing to Bato’s hand. “Wait,” he paused and Bato looked at him questionably. “Do you have your key?” 

Bato laughed then, a loud thing and so unlike any other laugh he’d let out in a while.

Coming down from the humor of the question, Bato shook his head and breathlessly responded, “No.”

He quickly stepped inside and grabbed his key from one of the counters near the kitchen and moved back out of the door to follow Hakoda to his next door apartment. 

Hakoda led the way into his apartment where there were several objects on the floor. Bato spotted a protractor, a bracelet, and  _ was that a knife?  _ Questionably turning to the shorter man, Bato waved down to the floor with his right hand. 

Hakoda looked down to where Bato was pointing and chuckled nervously. A hand came up to rub at the back of his neck before he spoke. “My daughter wants self defense and my son wants to learn. Before I had them, I used to teach self defense classes.” 

_ Ahhh  _ Bato reasoned and nodded before moving to follow Hakoda when he beckoned him forward with his hands. 

They were standing in the kitchen, Bato against the island with his head barely missing one of the cabinets above him, and Hakoda moved to turn something off on the stove and then left quickly. To where, Bato didn’t know. 

As soon as he was gone, the man was back with a jar of some yellow cream and he was juggling some meds in his hand. 

“Are you a high school teacher or a paramedic?” Bato asked, mirth lacing his voice but he dropped his smile at Hakoda’s grimace.

Quietly, he reached for Bato’s left hand and inspected the scarred (albeit not as damaged as it was years before) skin. A hand disappeared at Bato’s side before returning covered in the salve. 

“One of my son’s friends has a bad burn scar on his face from a fire. I try to keep some of this here for when he comes over because his father refuses to get him some.” Hakoda’s eyes were furrowed with concentration and his lips were turned into a deep frown. Bato looked down at his feet. 

_ Shit,  _ he thought to himself. 

“Dad!” he heard from his right side and turned to find a young boy that was very obviously Hakoda’s son (sans the eyes, those weren’t Hakoda’s) standing near the doorway. The boy hadn’t spotted Bato because he was looking at the ground and murmuring to himself. Hakoda turned his head quickly and stepped away from Bato’s hand to address his son fully. 

“Yeah?” He asked and there was some rustling before the boy’s voice returned. 

“Nevermind! Found it!” he victoriously whispered to himself before seeing himself out. 

Bato turned to Hakoda who was also looking at him before they both erupted into laughter. The previously tense moment they’d shared had been washed away and Bato wanted to hug Hakoda’s son for an eternity. 

“Here,” Hakoda said, two red pills sitting in his palm. “These are for the pain. They’re stronger than regular aspirin and tylenol so I advise you only take one at a time.” 

Bato gave his thanks and he and Hakoda engaged in a little bit of small talk before a timer went off from somewhere in the kitchen. 

“Oh!” Hakoda exclaimed and moved to first retie his hair with one of the spare ties sitting on his wrist and then to grab the oven mitts sitting next to the stove. “Would you want to stay for dinner?” He asked and turned around to look at Bato. 

A wave of nostalgia hit Bato as he looked at Hakoda who’s look, old jeans, a ripped burgundy tee and a messy bun, oozed domesticity. 

He’d almost had that life once. 

In another life he  _ would have had this life.  _ The life where he’d come home to someone who would cook and care for him and to whom he’d be able to reciprocate those feelings to fully. 

“N-no,” he stammered out, standing up straight from where he’d been heavily leaning against the island. “I have to go,” he murmured but before he could move too far, he hit the back of his head against one of the cabinets. 

“Ow,” he said and scrunched his face up. Hakoda was suddenly in his line of vision. 

“Hey, come on you can lay on the couch. That looked like a nasty hit.” He felt a warm hand on his back, guiding him somewhere in the apartment. There were several voices around him and he couldn’t make out any of them. He soon registered a soft feeling under him and then he blacked out. 

When he awoke, it was midnight dark outside and there was little light casting through the windows of his apartment. 

He spotted another couch to his right and then thought  _ no. Not my apartment.  _

“Hey,” he began, voice raspy. From what? He didn’t know.

Someone’s head popped up on the other couch and they rubbed their eyes, seeming to awake. 

“Hey,” they said softly.  _ Oh. Hakoda. His neighbor.  _ And things were suddenly coming back to him.

He’d been working. He’d felt a pain in his hand from his injury. Hakoda was at his door. Hakoda was applying salve to his arm. And then he’d hit his head. 

Bato groaned loudly into his hands when his elbows came to rest on his knees. 

“I need to go,” he croaked out, his voice unnecessarily dry. 

“While I do agree with that,” Hakoda started before looking away shyly. In the moonlight, Hakoda’s blue eyes shone just a tad bit brighter and the light that was coming through the windows made it look like there was a halo resting above his brown-haired head. His hair was messy as if he’d run his hands through it several times without brushing or tying it. “I may have gotten your dog and brought her here.”

Bato’s eyes shot around the room to where he spotted Bandit huddled in a makeshift dog bed. 

His eyes then shot over to Hakoda who was still shyly looking at his lap. “Sorry?” he said questionably and Bato chuckled softly. 

“No, it’s fine. Just didn’t expect that.” A hand came to run down his face while he exhaled softly. Hakoda offered him the glass of water that was sitting on the coffee table and Bato graciously accepted. 

“What,” he grunted as he moved to reposition his legs to be under his body. “What time is it?” His eyes were still adjusting to the darkness of the rest of the room but he could see Hakoda moving and then a light come on near his face — his phone. 

“A little after 1. Do you _want_ to leave?” Hakoda looked up at him and pulled his hair back into a ponytail and stretched — seeming to wake his body. He moved from his position on the couch to the kitchen where he turned on one of the lights. Bato watched him wash his hands in the kitchen sink, the muscles on his back visible through the tight t-shirt he was sporting because of the soft yellow light. 

“Uhm,” Bato started, looked over at Bandit, patted his pocket for his phone and keys and then continued, “I wouldn’t mind staying if it’s no big deal.” 

Hakoda, now facing Bato as he dried his hands, shook his head. “Sure. It wouldn’t be the first time you’d slept over.” 

A soft chuckle escaped Bato but he then furrowed his eyebrows in thought. “I need my laptop.” 

The light was casting on Hakoda from where he was standing and he stood straight up. “I can get it. You should stay here.” He swiped his towel across the counter and folded it, putting it back where he’d grabbed it from before walking over to Bato. His hand reached out in Bato’s face. 

“Keys.” He was smiling and Bato loved the way the spare moonlight illuminated the crows feet above his right eye. He placed the keys in Hakoda’s hand and Hakoda clasped them together. “I,” he moved his hands to the door before looking for his shoes. 

“Will be right back,” he finished, muttering more to himself than to Bato. Bato smiled softly when Hakoda’s brown hair fell from the ponytail in his head when he left the door. He could hear a soft curse from the other side but allowed his attention to travel over to Bandit who was stirring in her sleep. 

“Here girl,” he whispered and her feet patterned across the floor before she hopped onto his lap. He’d been rubbing her fur for only a few more minutes when Hakoda walked back through the door, keys softly jangling in his hands. 

He held the laptop up slightly as he asked, “This one?” Bato nodded while smiling. Bandit perked her ears up when Bato reached up to grab the device from Hakoda’s hand. Bato smiled again when Hakoda’s hand lingered just a tad bit longer than necessary under his. 

“What are you working on?” Hakoda asked, curious and choosing to fill the open space on Bato's left. He opened his laptop and pulled up the unfinished website he’d been working on earlier that evening. There were a few bugs he needed to fix but if he could work for about half an hour, he’d be completely done with the entire site. 

“I do web designs and build websites for businesses. This one is for a small business opening a few blocks from here actually.” Getting to work wasn’t hard and despite barely knowing Hakoda, he didn’t find the man's presence next to him throughout it all uncomfortable. 

When he finished his work and closed his laptop, Bato sighed triumphantly and looked to his left where Hakoda was no longer sitting. Bandit, now on the floor, was sitting just to the right of his feet and he could feel her fur pricking against his ankle. 

He looked over to his right to find Hakoda now sitting on the other couch scrolling through his phone. “Some first date huh?” he started and Hakoda looked up at him. 

A cheeky smile rose up on Hakoda’s face and he seemed to relax significantly, his crows feet filling his face up and disguising the tiredness that hid behind his eyes. 

“Better sooner rather than later?” he responded, though it sounded more like a question than a statement and Bato chuckled. 

“If you want me to go-” Bato’s voice was light and he was laughing as he spoke. Hakoda smiled even more and then turned to look at his lap. 

“No don’t,” his voice came out softer than Bato expected and one of his eyebrows furrowed in concern. “I really like you being here.” 

Bato was taken aback. They’d only known the other existed for about two months, and had only talked  _ twice  _ before this encounter. Was this going too fast? Or was Hakoda just the type to love hard and fast. 

Because Bato wasn’t entirely sure he’d be able to keep up if that was the case. 

“Fine,” he settled and got more comfortable on the couch. A blanket had been discarded on the floor beside it and he reached to grab it and wrap it around his body. 

They talked softly into the night and well into the morning hours. Despite Hakoda having work the next day, Friday, neither of them wanted to sleep — too busy getting to know each other — so when Hakoda’s children came bouncing into the living room at 5 am, Bato was decidedly confused. 

“Looks like it’s my time to get up,” Hakoda announced when the kids didn’t even seem to acknowledge Bato’s presence and went straight for the kitchen. Bato looked up at Hakoda questionably to which Hakoda deeply responded, “Don’t worry. They know who you are.” 

The family of three moved flawlessly through the kitchen. The girl, Katara, was cooking something on the stove while the boy, Sokka, moved to make sure the table was set and moved Hakoda’s work from where it had been sitting. Hakoda went to shower but was back in twenty minutes, fully dressed, and Bato was violently reminded that he was an  _ outsider  _ watching this family get to work for their day. 

He began to gather his things, which were just his laptop, keys, phone, and dog, and get ready to leave when Hakoda called to him from where he sat at the table. 

“Do you want to stay for breakfast?” Bato looked back in shock at the question but shook his head. 

“I have... uhm... some things to go over. I’ll see you,” Bato hurriedly responded, not entirely sure why he’d responded that way but knowing he needed to create a bit of distance in this “relationship” before he let himself get too attached. 

He missed the way Hakoda’s face twisted in concern. He missed the way Sokka pointedly looked between the two of them, recognizing something much deeper was at play. He missed Katara’s sigh of disappointment. 

Instead, Bato spent the day trying to get himself in order — trying to understand just  _ why  _ he still wanted to be involved even though Hakoda seemed to be deeply concerned for him — well beyond what Bato felt for the man at this point in time. What scared him was the possibility that Hakoda would realize he didn’t actually  _ like  _ Bato and was simply taking pity on him now that he knew about his injury. And he feared that Hakoda would realize that sooner rather than later. 

Maybe they just needed to have their date before Bato decided anything concrete on the situation. 

He sighed to himself and then willed himself to handle the situation between him and Hakdoa before he would begin working on his latest website project. He shot the man a quick text, detailing when he’d be available for an actual date and when Hakoda didn’t respond, Bato let the nervous pool in his stomach to fuel his work binge. 

With the occasional break to get a snack and feed Bandit, Bato didn’t fully detach himself from his work until five hours later. He’d only gotten half of the website done and he’d need to phone one of his coding friends later to help him go over some technicalities in the code but until then, he decided to take a shower and actually sleep. 

He slept for seven hours and groaned to himself when he awoke and saw it was 6 pm. Bandit had climbed on his bed during that time and was sleeping peacefully beside him. He decided to not move and instead run his hands through her fur softly. 

As he replayed the day in his mind, from the time he’d moved to his room to when he layed down for rest, Bato remembered sending the text to Hakoda and quickly reached for his phone that was sitting beside his bed. 

_ Next Monday works. Can we do during my lunch break? It’s from 1:15 to 1:50,  _ the text read and Bato smiled softly at the response. 

Okay so maybe he and Hakoda  _ were  _ going to be fine. 

_ Add an extra emphasis on maybe, _ he thought. 

***

The following Monday at 1 pm, Bato found himself sitting in a coffee shop just around the corner from the local high school where Hakoda taught classes. 

He was a very prompt person and preferred it when people were on time. Although he didn’t expect Hakoda to be early, he was surprised when the man strode into the shop five minutes before he said his lunch break started. 

“You’re here early,” Hakoda said after placing the cup of coffee and pastry he’d ordered on the table and then sitting in the seat across from Bato. The red plaid sweater he was wearing looked absolutely horrendous and Bato really questioned the man’s fashion choices. 

Apparently he’d just been staring at the sweater instead of responding and Hakoda looked down and back up at and smiled. “Don’t hate. It’s a nice sweater.”

“Yeah if I’m a  _ grandpa  _ that lives in  _ New York,”  _ Bato responded before he realized what he’d said and looked up at Hakoda in horror. The man only laughed at the joke and Bato was relieved that he didn’t take offense. 

The date went about the same way, the two of them bickering about their lives (and discovering they had gone to the same college at the same time along the way), and Hakoda seemed to loosen up entirely after having been essentially  _ ghosted —  _ as his friends put it — by Bato for a few days. When they went their separate ways, Bato realized that he’d like to have more dates like that. He’d like to be around Hakoda more. 

After two nights together and a single date, Bato finally allowed himself to settle into the idea of him being  _ happy  _ with someone else. Someone that seemed to care so much about the people he loved. Someone that thought he was funny. Someone who was loving and full of love to give despite having experienced some of the worst things life had to offer. 

And for fucks sake he prayed he wouldn’t regret it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos/Comments are appreciated!!


End file.
